


Fever! I'm afire. Fever, Yeah I Burn Forsooth

by blue_veins



Series: The Blood is Love au [14]
Category: Rusty Quill RPF
Genre: M/M, Sick Fic, Whump, ben is a bloody idiot, but alex forgives him, fun with formatting, it wouldnt be october without some whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:34:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26999749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blue_veins/pseuds/blue_veins
Summary: Ben gets sick, has no idea, and Alex is Concerned.
Relationships: Ben Meredith/Alexander J. Newall
Series: The Blood is Love au [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1878586
Kudos: 5





	Fever! I'm afire. Fever, Yeah I Burn Forsooth

**Author's Note:**

> me writing almost 2k of Ben with a fever because im just here living my best life. could i have done this in a way to actually get more than just my 5 friends to read this? possibly, but i wanted to write these boys, because i love them, so the few of you who come here, thank you dearly for reading ilysm <3 
> 
> title is from the Peggy Lee song Fever! (i dearly love this title, i am not sorry at all)
> 
> Per usual, please don't show anyone involved. id be incredibly surprised if they ever made it here on their own XD

Ben blinked water out of his eyes, him and Alex had been hiding in this dead end alley in this unfamiliar city for hours now, and they were both absolutely miserable. They had been chased by a nearby gang who were still patrolling the streets. They were well hidden now, but didn't know the ins, and outs of this city enough to safely escape until the heat died down.

Ben started to shiver, or maybe he had been for a while now. He couldn't remember. Fuck this city. Fuck this gang. Fuck this  _ fucking _ rain. Fuck this alleyway for having literally zero escape. He pulled his coat tighter around him and envied Alex's relaxed but alert demeanor.

"Hey, Ben. Come on. I think the coast is clear." Ben's eyes snapped open. He hadn't even realized he had drifted off. Yes, he could sleep just about anywhere, but this was unusual. He would  _ never _ fall asleep when he needed to watch Alex's back.

Ben barely resisted groaning as he stood up. Squatting against a brick wall for hours hurt like a bitch, no matter how old you were. Alex rested his hand against Ben's elbow, "Hey, you alright?"

Ben attempted to answer but only a raw croak came out, he cleared his throat as quietly as he could before trying again, "'m fine. Just stiff... and need a fucking drink apparently." 

Alex gave him a dubious once over but realized their time could be short, "Alright. Let's get out of here."

The trek back to their shitty apartment took entirely too long. Ben had no idea how Alex could function on so little sleep all the goddamned time, but it had to have been at least thirty six hours since either of them had, and yet Alex was perfectly alert next to him on the tube (the fucking  _ tube _ . That gang found their goddamn car, and slashed fucking tires the fucking  _ fucks _ ) while Ben felt like his eyelids were weighted down, and it was a constant struggle to keep them open. It didn't help matters that he was still fucking damp through and through, he kept alternating between shivering, and sweating and he couldn't fucking  _ wait _ to be dry again.

Alex kept shooting him looks, but Ben would just wave him off, or flip him off, depending on how he felt in the moment. He was just fucking exhausted. It was  _ fine _ . Only a few more stops and then Ben could strip, maybe take a hot shower, and fall face first into their bed for twelve hours straight.

Alex had to grab his elbow to help him stand at their stop, Ben's legs were refusing to work properly. It was all that damn squatting. Fucking rain. Fucking gang. Fucking stupid fucking city that Alex had to deal with.  _ Christ _ , he couldn't wait til Alex had enough power to crush them under his thumb. Ben would have that alley demolished first chance he fucking got.

They eventually made it to their flat, Ben feeling a bit winded. Christ, fuck the shower, he just needed to lie down. He'd feel better after some good fucking sleep. Alex shut the door behind them, and finally voiced the concern he had obviously feeling. "Hey, seriously, are you alright? You look like shit." 

"Fuck you. Fuckin' told ya. 'M fucking.... fine. Jus' need some... sleep." Ben was hit with an intense wave of dizziness, and attempted to reach out for something to hold onto before his legs gave out and knew no more.

\-------

Alex had just enough time to leap forward to catch Ben just before he hit the floor, and even then he hadn’t been able to get a good grip, and had to gently let him down. Fucking christ, Ben had been looking worse for wear, but this was… not good. He pressed the back of his palm to Ben’s forehead, and practically had to yank it away, Ben was burning up, quite literally. Alex was almost surprised to not see steam rising from his still damp clothes. 

Alex sat crouched next to Ben for a moment - hand on his chest, feeling him breathe - taking a few deep breaths of his own. Okay, what had he needed to do to get this fever down? What had the nurse done one of the few times they had been able to afford one for his mum? Fluids. Fluids were big, Ben had probably sweat out everything in his body. Some paracetamol, that should help too, and a cold bath. No! No. Not cold, cool, temperate. 

Alex pulled out his phone, and sent a quick message to James to see if he could nick some fluids, and an IV; to bribe whoever needed it to do so, because there was no way Ben was going to be conscious enough to drink as much as he needed to. 

He took a moment to look at Ben, frowning, wrinkle of distress, or pain in his forehead. How Ben had been able to hide how sick he was, was rather impressive, though, if Alex had it right, Ben probably hadn’t had a clue as to how sick he really was. 

It always surprised Alex just how important Ben had become in his life in such a short amount of time. He allowed his heart to ache for him in this moment before taking his feelings, and shoving them aside so he could do what he needed to to take care of Ben. 

Alex leaned down to lift him as best he could and get him out of these clothes, into a cool bath and then into bed before James got here. If he timed it right, he should have enough time to watch a tutorial or three on putting in an IV. “Alright, love. Let’s get you better.” 

\-------

Ben was floating.

No.

Not floating. 

Carried.   
Comforted.   
Secure.   
Safe.

Ben so rarely felt safe in his life, it was almost overwhelming to feel it this strongly. Ben knew, deep down, that nothing could hurt him. He was protected. He tried to hold onto that, grip that feeling tight, now that he had it, he never wanted to lose it again. 

“Hey, hey. What’s wrong? Easy easy. It’s okay.”

Ben sighed, “Don’t leave.”

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m right here.”

Ben settled at the sound of the voice, exhaustion taking over, letting the darkness slip over him.

*

  
  


Ben was on fire. 

Burning away.

Leaving nothing but ash.

Blistering.  
Heat.  
Incandescent.  
Incendiary.

“Jesus christ, I didn’t realize anyone could be this hot and live.”

“Remind me later, and I’ll make a joke about that.”

“As long as there is a later, you can make all the jokes you want.”

“Will do, Bossman. Need anything else?”

“No, just make sure we’re not bothered, I won’t be leaving until his fever has broken.”

Ben felt a cool hand caress his forehead, and it felt like heaven. Like an oasis in the center of a blistering desert. Like a comet brushing close to a sun. Not really cooling anything, and yet making all the difference in the world. 

Ben never wanted it to go away.

He leaned into the touch, and hoped it would stay.

  
  


*

  
  


Ben was drowning. His chest was heavy.

Water everywhere.

He couldn’t  _ breathe _ . 

Choking.  
Gasping.  
Suffocating.  
Lost.

  
  


“Ben?  _ Ben _ , hey, you’re okay. This is going to help you. I promise. Easy, easy, you’re going to hurt yourself.”

Ben felt a strong hand grasp the side of his neck and another pressing gently at his chest, holding him in place, holding him together. But rather than it making him feel trapped, it grounded him. Like feeling that familiar hand connected him to the world again.

Found.  
Cared for.  
Alive.  
Loved.

“There we go, love. You’re alright. You’re gonna feel better in no time. You got to, yeah? Can’t go leaving me now. Not yet.”

Ben relaxed to the comforting, familiar voice, and allowed the strong hands to work.

To sooth him.  
To bathe him.  
To cool him.  
To help him.

He allowed unconsciousness to claim him, but was determined to not let that voice down. He would stick around as long as he could. 

\-------

Consciousness came back to Ben very slowly, like he was rising up from a great depth, trying to swim to the surface when his limbs could barely function. When he finally could open his eyes, it took him a minute to process where he was, and what had happened. 

He was propped up in a decent bed, with nice sheets (that made this their flat because Alex refused anything less, after having had to sleep on the streets, he would only have quality sheets now that he could), and then there was all the randomness, and bullshit that was in the bedroom. 

And then, of course, there was Alex. 

He was curled up in a chair, legs up and mostly under him (Alex wasn’t a big man, but Ben was always surprised how small he could make himself) leaning against the arm of the chair, neck bent at a weird angle. Ben followed his arm that was draped over the side to realize it was resting on the side of the bed, reaching out towards Ben. It looked like it wanted to be held, so Ben moved his hand the short distance and flipped it palm up, to slip under Alex’s. The corner of his mouth lifted when Alex’s hand automatically gripped his even though he was still obviously asleep. 

Ben must have dozed off again, but he awoke much quicker as he felt, and heard movement next to him. He opened his eyes to Alex, still mostly curled up, stretching his neck with a pained look on his face, but his other hand was still entwined with Ben’s. As soon as he saw Ben’s eyes were open, his face broke out in the most relieved expression before shifting into a dark storm cloud.

“Don’t you  _ ever _ fucking do that again. Jesus titty-fucking  _ christ _ , Ben, I thought you were going to fucking  _ die _ . How the  _ fuck _ did you not know you were sick?”

Ben attempted to answer, but just coughed instead, throat too dry to talk.

“Aww fuck, hold on.” Alex leaned to the side to grab a half full glass of water and handed it to him, helping him drink. “I’ll make us some tea in a bit.” 

Ben nodded and attempted to answer again, going a bit easier, “Is that what happened?”

Alex just shook his head, sounding genuinely surprised, “Fucking hells, you had no fucking clue, did you?”

“Never got sick much, even when I did, just pushed it aside,” Ben paused a moment, thinking about anytime Tim had gotten sick, inevitably bringing home something from one of the boys at school, and even if Ben had caught it too, Tim  _ always _ came first. “I guess I’m just good at ignoring it.”

Alex’s expression softened, like he could read Ben’s thoughts, and with as much as Ben had told him about Tim, he probably could. “Yeah, I suppose you are. But fucking _pay_ _attention_ to your body next time ya bloody idiot.” Alex squeezed his hand, “Who else am I gonna have to rule the world with? James? Spends too much time with cats, that one.”

Ben smiled, “Wouldn’t be any fun without me, would it?”

Alex hummed as he leaned forward, and brushed Ben’s hair off his forehead, “Sure wouldn’t.”

Ben felt his eyes closing again of their own free will.

Alex’s hand drifted from his hair to his cheek, “Rest, love, we’ll get our vengeance when you’re feeling better.”

Ben pressed his cheek into his touch, knowing not only that he was safe in Alex’s care, but soon enough there would be blood on his hands again, and that thought gave him strength as he drifted back to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> fun fact: i just checked, and used the word 'fuck' 32 times in this fic, i think that might be a record for me, and i am pleased with that.


End file.
